A February Day In Archies Creek Poem by Francis Duggan

A hot and humid afternoon again
And disappointment for all of those who wish for rain
The day is still and scarce a puff of breeze
And a forecast high of 35 degrees.

By the high road the paddocks looking brown
Of Archies Creek beyond Wonthaggi Town
And the cattle in the shade of old gum stay
They do not graze in the hot sun of day.

You wave your hands before your face and eyes
To keep away the mozzies and the flies
And the marchfly a not so common sight
Who leave a stinging feeling when he bite.

A summer afternoon in February
It seems so warm at least too warm for me
I like temperatures of twenty to twenty three
Though many others of course see it differently.

The road through Archies Creek wind up and down
And from weeks of sun the high paddocks looking brown
And you wave your hands to keep the flies away
In Gippsland on a humid February day.